Content Management System Specifics

The content management side of the Mult-Media Engine is a client-side application built entirely in Macromedia Flash, and making use of file system and server interactivity. It can reside on a shared network drive for access to multiple users. User-level access to certain aspects of the tour is possible. Typically, there is only one user account responsible for uploading changes made to any portion of the tour.

The CMS is currently undergoing a complete overhaul so as to make use of new runtime features that are being offered like Chat, Linear Sequencing, multi-layer maps, FastWalk, StatFrame, and the like. Current demonstrations of the content management system are able to convey the basic concepts of the CMS, but are not similar in appearance to the final product.

Contained within the CMS data files are obfuscated JPEGs, SWFs, PNGs, MP3s, FLVs, and XML files. Each file is represented by a unique ID that only the CMS can relate to other data. The CMS is aware of which files have changed since the last upload, and therefore can upload only the changed files.

What the CMS is Not

The CMS is not a skinning application or a database schema constructor. It doesn't not allow for substantial departures in the the construction of the tour. Instead, it merely allows for data to be added, subtracted, or changed based on the original Information Architecture for the tour. For this reason, much thought and consideration must be given to these issues during the process of tour creation. The elements that we intend to change in the future, must be built to be content-managed in the present.

The CMS produces content that Flash loads dynamically, but the Flash files themselves do not change, unlike solutions like Macromedia Flex or other SWF generators. This ensures that there is little chance for file corruption or loading errors.

Managing Other Presentations

The CMS can allow certain media files and "silo-ed presentations" to be created, and collect information elsewhere in the tour for use in these new presentations.